cleanup · Orleans County
Fisher-Price — Medina
Medina
A former pickle works and Fisher-Price factory used chlorinated and fluorinated cleaning solvents, leaving an on-site groundwater problem that remains in New York's Superfund registry.
The documented story
What happened here?
The sprawling industrial complex at 711 Park Avenue began as a Heinz pickle works around the turn of the twentieth century. The current property operator dates Fisher-Price's occupation from 1969 to 1995, when the Medina complex became one of the company's manufacturing properties before later industrial reuse.
The environmental record concerns factory cleaning and degreasing—not contamination of toys. New York lists spent halogenated solvents under the F002 hazardous-waste category, including 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, trichlorofluoromethane, and another fluorinated solvent associated with historical manufacturing operations.
A 1997 Lake Ontario watershed plan identified the Fisher-Price property as a Class 2 hazardous-waste site in the Oak Orchard Creek drainage basin. The plan named the same principal solvent group but did not establish that the contaminants had reached Oak Orchard Creek or drinking water.
The surviving public record is unusually thin for a Class 2 site. DEC's current document-repository page reports that no files are available for site 837008. Registry milestones indicate investigation, design, and remedial action, but without the underlying decision, construction, and monitoring reports WNYAtlas cannot responsibly describe quantities removed, treatment performance, or the exact remaining controls.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
1899–1969
The complex operated as a Heinz food-processing and pickle property, according to the current site's industrial-history account.
1969–1995
Fisher-Price used the Park Avenue complex for manufacturing.
Before 1997
State investigation identified spent chlorinated and fluorinated solvents and listed the property as a Class 2 hazardous-waste site.
1997
New York's Rochester Embayment restoration plan identified Fisher-Price site 837008 in the Oak Orchard Creek drainage basin and named TCA, TCE, and trichlorofluoromethane.
2000–2007
State registry milestones record investigation, design, and remedial-action phases, but the supporting project documents are not available in DEC's online repository.
April 2025
Orleans County planning minutes described roughly three acres of on-site groundwater contamination under restriction and said study remained ongoing.
Present
The property remains in the State Superfund inventory while the industrial complex is marketed for continued business use.
News record
Major news events
Coverage selected here marks a turning point in public awareness, policy, enforcement, employment, or cleanup. Links open at the original publisher or archive; WNYAtlas does not reproduce restricted articles or images.
A neighboring public project again identifies the former Fisher-Price groundwater restriction
Orleans County planning minutes described the State Superfund area as approximately three acres of groundwater contamination restricted to the industrial site and said study remained ongoing. The reference provides current local context but is not a substitute for DEC's missing technical file.
Orleans County Planning Board ↗Chemical guide
Chemicals named in this record
These links explain potential hazards and exposure pathways. A chemical named in a record does not establish that anyone was exposed or harmed.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- New York identifies 1,1,1-TCA, TCE, trichlorofluoromethane, and a related fluorinated spent solvent in the hazardous-waste record.
- The available local-government description places the continuing restriction on approximately three acres of groundwater within the industrial site.
- The property's location in the Oak Orchard Creek drainage basin is watershed context, not proof that the listed solvents entered the creek.
- No reviewed source connects the contamination to finished Fisher-Price toys or consumer exposure; the documented issue is historical plant solvent handling and groundwater.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- DEC registry milestones record remedial investigation, design, and action, showing that the case advanced beyond preliminary screening.
- A groundwater restriction remains part of the publicly described site condition, but the missing decision and closeout files prevent a reliable account of the treatment technology or cleanup quantities.
- Continued industrial use does not mean unrestricted use. Excavation, groundwater use, construction, and any vapor requirements must be confirmed from the archived remedy and current site-management record.
Then and now
The site today
The former Fisher-Price complex remains in industrial use and on New York's Class 2 registry. As of the records reviewed in August 2026, the state repository still lacks the decision, closeout, and monitoring documents needed to characterize current remedy performance.
Research status
Open questions
- Obtain the archived Region 8 decision, construction-completion, easement, and monitoring files before restoring a well-documented label or publishing remedy-performance claims.